Ladle stopper rod

ABSTRACT

A steel stopper rod of sturdy and economic construction in which a separately formed shank member and a separately formed head are joined by engaging the lower end of the shank to a preformed mounting bore in the head, and fastening the head to the shank by a weld along a junction between the outside of the shank and the bottom of the mounting bore.

United States Patent 1191 Beijen Nov. 4, 1975 [75] Inventor:

[ 1 LADLE STOPPER ROD James H. Beijen, Glenwood, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Fabsco Corporation, Lansing, 111.

[22] Filed: Apr. 11, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 460,181

[52] US. Cl 222/559; 251/319 [51] Int. Cl? B22D 37/00 [58] Field of Search 251/319, 368; 222/D1G. 3,

222/DIG. 5, 559; 138/89; 248/1888, 188.9

3,011,231 12/1961 Drever .1; 251/319 3,550,819 12/1970 Allison 222 559 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 713,469 8/1954 1 United Kingdom 222/559 Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant ExaminerDavid A. Scherbel Attorney, Agent, or FirmD0minik, Knechtel, Godula & Demeur ABSTRACT A steel stopper rod of sturdy and economic construction in which a separately formed shank member and a separately formed head are joined by engaging the lower end of the shank to a preformed mounting bore in the head, and fastening the head to the shank by a weld along a junction between the outside of the shank and the bottom of the mounting bore.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 FIG. 1

i LAnmfslr'oji prgiuidn 'This invention relates to .aiste'elstopperj rod of improved e'conomic' construction without detectable change in serviceability of the rod.

Bottom pour ladles or containers commonly have steel stopper rods dimensional to close the bottom opening. Such rods are commonly covered with refractory material to insulate the steel rod against the heat of the molten metal. The refractory materials, as such, do not comprise an important part of the present invention, but the relationship of such refractory material to stopper rods can be determined from considering art such as US. Pat. Nos. 3,183,564 and 3,556,359.

This invention is particularly concerned with the coni struction of the steel stopper rod itself, particularly to provide an improved construction wherein such rods can be more economically manufactured while still providing highly desirable use in service. It has been the common practice in the art to forge an integral body member comprising an elongated shank and a bottom flange or head. The forging steps required to obtain such an integrally formed body are complex, time consuming and expensive. It has been the view in the art that such integrally forged ladle stoppers are necessary for the requirement of structural strength in serviceability under extreme heat conditions.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new steel ladle stopper of improved, economical construction.

Another object of the present invention is an improved steel stopper rod for bottom pour ladles or the like wherein a desirably serviceable rod is attained without requiring complex forging of an integral body.

Yet another object of the present invention is an improved steel ladle stopper rod in which advantages are attained from a rod assembled from separately formed shank and head members, with retention of desired characteristics of strength and serviceability. It is an aspect of this object that such an improved steel stopper rod is more easily and economically formed with greater choice available to the practitioner for obtaining a variety of steel stopper rods of differing configurations and constructions.

Such objects are now attained with still other objects which will occur to practitioners by considering the invention of the following disclosure wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, with a portion removed, of the steel stopper rod of improved construction;

FIG. 2 is an exploded elevational view, on an enlarged scale, illustrating a portion of a shank member, a separately formed head, and a separately formed P g;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view in section, on an enlaraged scale, showing the separately formed head assembled to the bottom of a shank member; and

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view along line 4-4 of FIG. 1, showing bottom fillet welds holding the head to the bottom of the shank member.

The stopper rod shown generally as 4 in the view of FIG. 1 illustrates one form in which the shank 6 has the configuration of a tubular cylinder or pipe. The upper part of the tubular cylinder is threaded at 8 to provide threaded engagement with accessory equipment and materials. The tubular cylinder of the shank has a passageway 10 extending to the opposite ends of the cylinder.

formed hot-forged head or flange 14 is shown with a 'milled internally threaded; bore: 16. The externally threaded bottom end 12 of the shank threadably engages bore :16. The passagewayl-O of the tubular cylinder is closed at the bottom by a steel plug 18 of cylindrical configuration. Such plug is likewise separately formed as by hot forging. The bore 16 is milled in the previously forged head. The threaded engagement forms can operably interlock, but additional advantages can be realized by providing welds at the junction of the head and the shank.

The head 14 and plug 18 may be fastened to the bottom of the shank 8 by welds 20 and 22. An outer fillet weld 20 is shown to be continuous and is present at the junction between the outside of the lower end of tubular shank 8 and the bottom of head 14. The inner continuous fillet weld 22 is shown to be present at the junction between the inside of the tubular shank 8 and the bottom of the plug 18. An additional weld or continuous fillet weld may be provided at the junction between the outside of the tubular shank 8 and the top of the head 14, such weld not being shown. The continuous fillet welds balance the mechanical interlock, and also provide a seal to prevent entry of the molten metal into areas where the threads of the shank and head are engaged.

The advantages of the improved steel ladle stopper are achieved with different embodiments which may provide that the shank be solid as well as tubular. A solid shank will still engage a mounting bore in the separately formed head in the preferred practice of the invention; and a weld will be provided at least between the junction of the outside of the solid shank in the bottom of the flange 10. It will be appreciated that the head and the elongated shank may have various crosssectional configurations such as hexagonal or square, in addition to round. The mounting bore may communicate with the opposite sides of the head as shown, or the bore may be in the form of a socket. One or more spot welds may be provided although a fillet weld is the best mode presently contemplated. It will be appreciated that some interlocking relationship is desired between the bottom of the shank and the mounting bore, although interlocks other than threaded may be provided.

The claims of the invention are now presented and the terms of such claims may be further understood by reference to the language of the preceding specification and the views shown in the drawing.

What is claimed is:

1. A steel stopper rod for bottom pour ladles, includmg an elongated steel shank member,

mounting threads formed at one end of said shank member,

a separately formed steel stopper head laterally extending beyond the shank member and dimensioned to close a bottom pour ladle opening,

a threaded mounting bore extending to the opposite ends in said head and having a configuration corresponding to the outside configuration of the threaded end of the shank member so that the head of said shank member engages said mounting bore, and

a continuous weld sealingly fastening the head to the outside of the shank member at the junction between the bottom end of the shank member and the a second inner continuous fillet weld formed along a bouom of the mounting bore continuous junction between the bottom of the plug j z i rgg g g l ggf gggggf l i fig zs g and the bottom of the inside of the tubular shank memwhich further includes a steel plug closing the lower 5 end of the tubular shank member, and further including 

1. A steel stopper rod for bottom pour ladles, including an elongated steel shank member, mounting threads formed at one end of said shank member, a separately formed steel stopper head laterally extending beyond the shank member and dimensioned to close a bottom pour ladle opening, a threaded mounting bore extending to the opposite ends in said head and having a configuration corresponding to the outside configuration of the threaded end of the shank member so that the head of said shank member engages said mounting bore, and a continuous weld sealingly fastening the head to the outside of the shank member at the junction between the bottom end of the shank member and the bottom of the mounting bore.
 2. A steel stopper rod which includes the features of claim 1 wherein said shank member is tubular, and which further includes a steel plug closing the lower end of the tubular shank member, and further including a second inner continuous fillet weld formed along a continuous junction between the bottom of the plug and the bOttom of the inside of the tubular shank member. 